


Flames to Flames

by ficalicious325



Series: Full Circle [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Multi, Other, Werewolf!Danny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-30
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 14:09:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2695883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficalicious325/pseuds/ficalicious325
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny always found it fairly ironic that she went into the fire service. One of her girlfriends was a cat and the other had a clumsy addiction to leaving lit candles lying around. It had always been written in her stars, being a firefighter, her father had been one, her father’s father and even her great grandfather. The line went back for years so it was no great surprise that Danny found herself sitting in the same fire house her ancestors had worked in years before. </p><p>Updates Mondays and Fridays!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Danny always found it fairly ironic that she went into the fire service. One of her girlfriends was a cat and the other had a clumsy addiction to leaving lit candles lying around. It had always been written in her stars, being a firefighter, her father had been one, her father’s father and even her great grandfather. The line went back for years so it was no great surprise that Danny found herself sitting in the same fire house her ancestors had worked in years before. 

She loved her job, there was no denying that. She loved the rush it gave her, the thrill of saving people. She loved the heat and the flames and she loved most of all how no matter what happened during the day she could go home and crawl onto the sofa and snuggle between Laura and Carmilla. Today was different however, today Danny had been to hell and back. Today had been a child. The wolf in Danny, despite making her seem more masculine at times, like ‘one of the bros’, never cease to make her want to protect the young ones.

When she unlocked the door and walked into their small but quaint three bedroom home she didn’t expect to see Carmilla in her cat form curled up on the couch. The snarky publisher was usually shut up in her office working or cooking something or other in the kitchen when Danny got home. Recently Carmilla had seemed more and more uneasy in her cat form around the two girls, although Danny found it hard to understand why - considering that they both went hunting together once a month in both their panther and wolf forms. It had been a while since the redhead had seen the panther version of Carmilla and it made something warm settle in her stomach. She knew Laura wasn’t home, the journalist rarely got home before eight or nine in the evening, without waking Carmilla, Danny quickly slipped off her clothes that she’d worn to work this morning, folding them neatly on the stairs before transitioning into her wolf and stalking up to Carmilla. 

One golden eye cracked open as Danny nuzzled her wet nose against her scruff. Both snapped open when she heard Danny’s soft whimper. Carmilla was so tempted to change back into her human form so that she could run her fingers through Danny’s oh-so soft fur as she very rarely got to do. However, there was something special about the way this moment sung to her. She hadn’t heard the air sing like this in weeks and as she shuffled over to allow Danny to clamber up onto the sofa she realised that she’d done the right thing. Danny rested her muzzle on Carmilla’s back. 

This was exactly how Laura found them hours later. They were both fast asleep in a cocoon of midnight and rusty fur. She crept into the kitchen, careful not to arouse her sleeping housemates. Once a steaming pot of Carbonara was placed on the table she heard the soft click of claws upon the hardwood floor. The click swiftly disappeared and was followed by the soft padding of bare feet. Danny strode through the kitchen in all her glory, causing Laura to nearly drop the three plates she was holding. She slunk over to the laundry basket that they kept by the back door for Danny to put on clothes when she came back in from her runs and lifted out a loose jersey t-shirt, and a pair of soft track pants. When she noticed Laura staring at her, her face turned from a solemn frown to a soft smile. 

Laura frowned at this, it was so unlike Danny to act so sad. She gently placed the plates down on the table and sauntered up to the much taller woman. “What is it sweetheart?” She asked when she was in reaching distance of Danny. The last time that Laura had seen Danny like this, or how Danny had allowed her to see her like this was years ago. Danny preferred to be like this alone, on the hard days she tended to go out for longer runs, sometimes they would only last a few hours, on the really bad ones they lasted a few days but she always came home, the same old cheerful Danny. 

Danny’s head sunk down onto her shoulder and Laura wrapped her arms securely around her waist and drew her tight into her body. She squeezed her arms around her when she heard and felt Danny shudder and draw in a sharp breath. Danny pulled her over to the snuggler in the corner and sat in the wide arm chair and pulled Laura onto her lap and buried her head in her neck. Laura ran her hands through Danny’s glorious ginger hair as the body under her shake and shuddered. When Danny let out a whimper that was swiftly followed by a cry Laura squeezed her tighter into her body and called out for Carmilla. There was a soft crash from the living room and a large, black panther sprinted into the kitchen looking rather disheveled. When Carmilla realised what was going on she rushed to the arm chair and tried to make herself fit onto it with the two other women.

Danny laughed as she was nudged by paw after paw and a wet tongue came to lick at her salty tears. Laura moved one of her hands so that it was resting on the top of Carmilla’s head and stroked it softly. “I leave for one day and I come home to find you two curled up on the sofa and then this catastrophe! Geez, anyone would think that I was running some sort of animal shelter!” Laura smirked sarcastically, her eyes were fixed on Danny so she didn’t see that Carmilla’s face sank. The Panther slinked over to the other room and transformed, coming into the room in her human form and grabbing one of Danny’s shirts from the basket and slipping on a pair of shorts. Danny opened her other arm to Carmilla and she slipped into the warm embrace and snuggled her head under the redhead’s chin. 

Danny broke the silence at last with a declaration that their dinner was getting cold. The three untangled and all assembled around the table. After a few minutes of them clattering around and serving each other food, they tucked into their meal and shared facts about their days. As per usual Laura was talking a mile a minute and neither Danny or Carmilla could get a word in edgeways. Carmilla slipped her cool hand off the table and onto Danny’s thigh as a sign of support as Laura continued to ramble on. Danny smiled at the brunette and they carried on eating. It wasn’t until much later in the evening when the three of them were climbing into bed when Laura realised that her two other girlfriends had been suspiciously quiet the whole time that she’d been home. 

“What’s going on with you two? I get home and you’re both in your animal forms and then you barely talk all evening. Not to mention Danny’s behaviour in the kitchen earlier? Are we going to talk about it or are we just going to pretend that it hasn’t happened?” Laura questioned. Danny felt a small cool hand reach under her shirt and rub her back soothingly as she opened and closed her mouth trying to find some explanation of her earlier behaviour. Strangely enough, without even needing to voice it Carmilla understood how hard this was for Danny which was an unusual occurrence since most people generally assumed it was Laura who would have been more in tune with people’s emotions. However, there seemed to be something that the girl just didn’t seem to notice some days, of course that didn’t made them love her any less, if anything it made them love her more. It made their need to protect her grow and grow and some days it was even fairly useful; the need to sit down and talk about their emotions wasn’t something either of the two girls greatly enjoyed. 

Danny rolled onto her back, trying to get comfortable as she lifted her arms to let the two smaller girls crawl under them and re-situate themselves. Carmilla’s hand stayed under her shirt and rubbed soft circles as Danny found the right words, gently running her fingers through Laura’s hair. “There was a house fire today,” she began slowly. She felt Carmilla tense under her arm, the hand jolting to a stop for a second before continuing its previous motions, albeit a bit slower and more shaky. “I was sent it with Kirsch, it was meant to be a simple in and out, make sure that everyone was out and then clear the area.” Laura turned her head to watch her girlfriend’s face. “We weren’t that lucky. The father had been an alcoholic, he’d gotten too drunk and spilt alcohol everywhere and decided to light one up. His two kids were upstairs asleep…” Danny trailed off for a second, finding it hard to continue. Both the girls he’d in her embrace snuggled closer into her, a sign of comfort she was grateful for. “Kirsch and I made it to the second floor, it was just so awful, their family photos were just burning on the walls whilst these two kids were sleeping, knowing nothing of the chaos that was going on around them. Nothing.” Danny choked back a sob, determined on finishing her story, she was exhausted and just wanted to fall asleep in the warm embrace of her two lovers and know that they would be there when she awoke. “I went in, Kirsch behind me, and they just looked so peaceful as the walls around them shook and smoke surrounded the room. They just slept as we carried them out and placed them on stretchers to be taken to hospital, why? Why didn’t they wake up? Why didn’t he think?!”

“Shhhh, Danny, it’s okay, you’re okay baby,” Carmilla tried to calm the redhead down considerably, she was inches away from loosing it more than the two girls had ever seen before. “You’re okay,” she repeated again. “I promise you our kids won’t be like that okay? They will have our paranoid little Laura, and you educating them about fire safety 24/7 and they will know okay?” She was so absorbed in the images dancing around her head of a little Danny and a little Laura, growing up with them forever that she didn’t notice that the two other occupants of the bed had whipped their heads around to look at her. They’d never imagined that Carmilla would have been the one that brought up kids first. Realising that her two girlfriends were staring at her she blushed deeply and nuzzled her head into Danny’s neck, hiding her face with both her hair and Danny’s. Laura smirked up at Danny, kissing her lightly on both her cheeks and then softly on the lips before laying down and trailing an arm up Carmilla’s and linking their fingers over Danny’s stomach. 

“Goodnight, I love you both,” Danny kissed the top of each of their heads and snuggled back into the pillows, perfectly content to let the day’s worries wash over her head and sleep with the women that she loves. The last noise of the night was a muffled noise from the curve of Danny’s neck which elicited a soft bark of laughter from both of her two bedmates.


	2. Chapter 2

Carmilla was sat on the roof, gazing up at the stars. It wasn’t often that she resented the career paths that her girlfriends had chosen for themselves but tonight was one of those nights. Seeing Danny fall apart always did something to her that she didn’t really like. It was so rare to see the redheaded beauty like this that she had to direct her feelings somewhere, and tonight that somewhere was Danny’s job. She’d been sat here before, a few months ago when Laura was sent out into the middle of nowhere with no phone service. Carmilla had gone crazy, she’d never been so nervous in three hundred and thirty four years. It was Danny who had clambered up to the roof from their window and calmed her down; however when Carmilla looked into the night, Danny and Laura were lying safe and asleep in their bed.

When the sun started to peak up behind the trees and the stars that Carmilla loved so much began to disappear the vampire realised that she’d been sat out on that roof for almost ten hours. She heard Laura bumble out of bed and creep into the shower below her, she knew that in a few minutes their final bed mate would be following her and they wouldn’t realise that she’d been up there for the whole night. The click of the front door almost half an hour later confirmed Carmilla’s belief. It was a surprise to her though when the window below her slid open, causing her to jump and almost slide off her perch on the roof.

“There you are,” Danny shouted up to her as she struggled to get her long body out of the window. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Carmilla merely shrugged, unsure of what to say. Once Danny had deposited herself next to her and flung an arm around her shoulders, which Carmilla immediately sank into, treasuring the warmth offered from her wonderful werewolf, Danny placed a kiss to her head. “What’s going on in there, you?” The redhead asked, “you’ve been off all week, are we going to talk about it or are we going to bury it?” Carmilla turned her face to breath in the scent of Danny’s skin and hair. Once the strong scent of pine had finned her senses she decided that there was no point in keeping quiet.

“I hate your job sometimes, I hate that it makes you cry and I hate that you have to see the things you do but I love it too. It’s such a huge part of you and I love that it’s just, it’s so you. I hate it and I love it and I hate that I love it and I just- I just want you to be safe, okay?” Danny squeezed her closer into her body, aware - through years of experience of dealing with Carmilla - that she wasn’t finished. “I want you to be safe because I can’t loose you and sitting up here all night proved that to me. I could - with many complications - die tomorrow and you and Laura would go on with your lives and your jobs, just like this morning. I could die and you both would live but neither of you seem to understand that I can’t. I can’t live without you and I wish it was the other way around.”

“Is that what you think?!” Danny turned to Camilla in shock, “do you really believe that, Carm?” Carmilla could only nod her head, blushing in shame. It had been so long since she’d been so honest about the way that she was feeling that she was somewhat ashamed of sharing this weirdly intimate detail about herself. She turned her head away as Danny continued to stare at her. Danny knew that there was no point in trying to persuade Carmilla of something different that she had stuck in her head but she made a firm note in her head to tell Laura about this and approach the subject later when they were together. Instead she just wrapped long fingers around the side of Carmilla’s head and pulled it into her chest. A thought suddenly came to her; “hey, what do you feel about going for a run?” She felt Carmilla grin against the skin of her neck and soon her arms were wrapped around a black panther and not her tiny girlfriend. She felt whiskers tickle her cheek and a wet tongue mark a trail along her cheekbone before her girlfriend leaped from the roof to the ground in a spectacular jump.

Once they were both running through the woods, the wind blowing through their fur and the hard ground pounding under their feet, the events from the past day swept over Danny and she found herself stumbling and tripping over her own paws until she was rolling down a slope. She was stopped by a set of jaws grabbing the back of her neck and she was back on her feet again with her bite mark being soothed by a soft tongue. The two women decided that it was probably a good time to turn around and go back to the house. As soon as they tumbled through the doors and transformed into their human forms they realised that a good long shower was in order, for both of them.

As the warm spray hit Carmilla’s back and the stiffness that had sunk in over the cold night drifted away and her shoulders were rubbed and soothed by large, callous hands she realised that maybe she should have spent the night curled in her lovers’ embraces. “What are you thinking about?” Danny whispered in her ear, “what’s going on in your head, hey?” Carmilla could only shake her head and try and clear the thoughts that had her mind aching as well as her heart for almost weeks now. She couldn’t help but wonder what would come of these recent events and how they would effect their relationship. Carmilla turned in Danny’s arms and nuzzled her nose into the long, beautiful neck, “I’m on the night shift tonight, if you don’t want to tell me, you can talk to Laura, okay? Just promise me you won’t continue to let this eat you up?” Carmilla nodded and reluctantly pulled away.

"Dan?" Carmilla asked after a few minutes just holding each other, Danny looked down at her to show her that she'd heard, "you know I trust you right? You know I love you and I trust you? I know that they way we got together was both of us falling for Laura and it was like that for so long but I've fallen for you too, you must know that. Don't you?" The doubt and fear that Danny saw in Carmilla's eyes both scared her and left her with a sense of curiosity. 

"Carm, what is this about? I know you love me, just like you know I love you. Look, you don't have to tell me now, I just hate seeing you like this. I know that you either do't want to admit it or you don't want to talk about it right now but I know that something's wrong and I'm here if you need to talk about it, okay?" Danny brushed the wet hair from her face before kissing her softly.

* * *

It was when Laura got through the door and plopped her bags down on their bench by the door when she realised that maybe something was wrong and maybe she should have been paying a little more attention in the past week, or few weeks. It was the realisation of the fact that one of her girlfriends fell apart last night and the other had evaded their bed the whole night, only to not come in in the morning. She’d received a text from Danny mid-morning that had both scared her and made her feel sick to her stomach. The belief that she’d been so blind to someone - two people she was so in love with terrified her and she vowed to not let it happen again. Their Silas days had been a mixture between hell and the best kind of heaven. The terror that had struck her at the loss of Carmilla and then been soothed as her heroines came through the door together - relatively unscathed, was a memory she held to dearly. Laura realised that her dedication to her work had held her back from something that was so precious to her and mentally scalded herself again. "Carm?" She shouted up the stairs, "you home?" 

Laura heard a clatter from upstairs, surprised that for the second time this week she'd been able to surprise the vampire. Laura wished that she cold take the past few weeks back and just re-live them all over again. She wished that she'd been more focused on what was in front of her than what was miles away and in someone else's life. Luckily, Laura was fortunate enough to know that her girlfriends were understanding enough to know that it was an innocent mistake and wouldn't think anymore of it. Laura knew not to take advantage of this and knew that she would not let this happen again. As she placed one foot in front of the other as she climbed the stairs up to Carmilla's office she vowed with each step never to forget how lucky she was and never to let these girls nearly slip away from her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for your support, sorry this chapter is late! It's a bit of a filler chapter if I'm being honest... Not my best work! Next chapter will be better! Promise!


	3. Chapter 3

Danny grinned as she strode into the firehouse. She’d had the best weekend in ages and a good day at work would just be the cherry on top. She was determined not to let anything get her down today. When she left the locker room after changing and dumping her bag in her locker she found Kirsch looking just as cheerful as she felt whilst attempting to hang Christmas garlands along the decorative ladders that hung from the wall and watched over all of them. She rushed over as the ladder that Kirsch was balancing on nearly toppled over. “Morning, Partner!” She chirped as she brought her foot down on the last rung to steady the ladder. “The sun is shining, it’s nearly Christmas, we have the best girlfriends in the world and we are going to have a wonderful day,” Danny declared.

Kirsch finally gave up on the garlands and singled to Danny that they should swap and the ginger should have a go. As they swapped positions and Kirsch took over her role as the ladder keeper Kirsch chipped in. “Well I know what’s got me in such a good mood, what happened over your weekend? Last time I saw you, you were about ready to leave this station and never come back…” The tall man trailed off waiting for Danny to continue his sentence.

“My girls,” was all Danny replied leaving Kirsch high and dry to fill in all the blanks that his partner had left for him. After a successful lining of all the ladders in the workroom, rec-room and the halls; Danny and Kirsch decided to call it a day and head into the kitchen for some well deserved lunch. Once Kirsch had done some gentle digging about Danny’s weekend plans, she finally opened up; “Laura took the whole weekend off to spend time with me and Carm. We spent almost all of Saturday together and then the whole of Sunday just like we used to; bed, books, kissing…” She trailed off, looking into the distance with a weird look in her eye until Kirsch coughed and the redhead snapped back into reality with a clear of her throat. “Yeah, it was amazing. I think things are really starting to get better. Carm seemed so much more relaxed, I’m not really sure what’s been going on with her recently but I’m kinda worried. I think Laura is too but she’s been so busy. We were talking about it on Saturday as Carm slept and she feels really guilty. I’m not sure whether I should too-“

“What do you have to feel guilty for, bro?” Kirsch interrupted. “That girl is one of the coldest ones that I know, she’ll be fine. Look, Dan, there’s nothing for you to be worried about. I’m glad that you had a good weekend though.’

“I really wish you wouldn’t talk about her like that. She’s nothing like you think she is. Anyway, enough about me, why was your weekend so ‘amazing’?” Danny asked using ‘air-bunnies’ around the word amazing. She smirked at the bright red blush that spread across Kirsch’s face and over his neck. “Go on then, Mr Lover-Boy. Do share all!”

Kirsch cleared his throat and scratched at the back of his neck before he started speaking. “Well, me and Gracie went out to this really nice restaurant and um, well… I guess now would be a good time to ask… Would you, um, would you like to be my best bro? As in wedding… As in I asked Gracie to marry me.” Danny’s jaw dropped and her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her skull. “Dan, say something!”

Danny grinned and stood up to wrap her arms around her fellow firefighter in a congratulatory hug. “Congratulations, man! That’s unbelievable, have you thought of a date or anything?” Her own thoughts drifted back to the conversation she’d had with Laura and Carmilla a few years ago about this exact same thing.

* * *

 

Danny lay on her back in the middle of the two single dorm beds which had been pushed together for almost the full year now. Carmilla was curled into her left side, making herself as small as possible as she always did, nearly drifting off to sleep. Laura had started out on her right but was now flung over both Danny and Carmilla, spread out like a starfish. The room was silent for a few minutes, the only sound was that of the three girls breathing. Laura broke the silence of the peaceful room with her usual cheerful tone. "Do you guys ever want to get married?" Danny chuckled as Carmilla tensed next to her and her eyes snapped open. 

"I know I do", Danny replied. "I've always wanted to, ever since mum and dad died. It's always just been there. I get it if you guys don't and I mean that, we're all still in college, even if one of us is over three centuries old." She grinned and poked Carmilla in the side affectionately receiving a nudge to her ribs in return. "I know it may be too soon. We've only been going out for just over a year now and some people may think that our relationship is so complicated and everything but I've never felt more comfortable in my whole life. And I'm sorry if you don't, I truly am but I can't help the way that I feel." She felt Carmilla's face turn and a soft kiss was placed against the skin of her neck.

"I do," Laura said, considerably quieter than before. Both her girlfriend's whipped their heads round to stare at her at inhuman speeds. "I mean I feel the same way! Oh man, did you think I was saying I do like I do, I do because I wasn't I was saying I do as in I do feel the same way not 'I do take you to be my lawfully wedded wives'. You know what? I'm just going to stop talking." Laura buried her face in Danny's red hair to try and hide the painful blush that spread across her face. 

Carmilla was next to break the strange eery silence; "so do I." Now it was Carmilla's turn to hide her blush as Laura and Danny turned to stare at her. "What?!" She asked, trying to sound defensive but the whiny tone in her voice gave her away. "I've been cold and undead for over three hundred years, as this giantess so kindly pointed out, and the one time that I actually do what you two ask of me and share with you how I'm feeling, well then of course the overly sweet cupcake and Xena Warrior Princess decide that they don't want me to share it at- What!? Why are you both laughing?!" Carmilla sat up and glared at the two girls as tears began to run down Danny's face and Laura clutched at her stomach as she laughed and laughed and laughed. "Fine then." Carmilla huffed. She stood from the bed, bending to pick the first shirt she could find off the floor. The fact that it was Danny's and sunk down to almost below her knees didn't help her effort to seem calm and aloof. 

Danny and Laura shared a look before tackling Carmilla from where she was stood with her hands on her hips to the bed and kissing every part of her that they could find. The night dissolved in laughter, kisses and declarations of 'I love you' and so much more. 

* * *

 

Danny blinked back into the moment when she felt Kirsch shake her shoulder. "Dan, we've got a call." She then realised that the sirens in the house were blaring and the kitchen had been emptied of everyone that had previously been in it. Her mind cleared as she ran down the halls behind Kirsch to the main room of the firehouse. The two partners were the last on their engine, still pulling on their boots and pants. The truck sped through the streets as cars pulled over to let it through and all the men (and Danny) were silent, as they usually were, preparing themselves for whatever it was that they were about to face. A sick sense of dread passed through Danny when she realised exactly where they were going and exactly who they were going to. She reached for her helmet, knowing from the radio call in that this was going to be bad. The picture of the three of them smiled up at her from the roof of her helmet. She closed her eyes and longed to be in bed, wrapped in her two loves just like she had been merely hours ago. She longed not to be pulling up to the building that she knew so well. She longed to just rewind. To go back to the memory that she'd kept so close to her heart of the three of them back at Silas, back in that dorm. 

Across town Laura was just waking up. She hadn't slept this long in years, especially on a week day and expected to wake up curled in Carmilla's arms, knowing that Danny had left much, much earlier. Instead she woke to find her self stretched over two pillows that she had in a death-hold. "Carm?" She called out sleepily, "where are you?" Laura dragged her limbs into action as she climbed off their vast expanse of a bed that she'd ever seen (because of course it had to be long enough to fit Danny's super-human legs and wide enough to fit all three of them - especially Laura and her starfish sleep pattern.) She padded down the stairs, her small socked feet echoing through their hall. When she stumbled into the kitchen she came across a neatly folded note delicately written on ivory paper. 

'Morning Cupcake, I've just gone out to the publishing house to hand in some of these edited manuscripts - I hope you slept well, there are croissants in the oven, I made them this morning. I'll be home soon my love, try not to work. I love you - Carmilla"

Laura smiled softly and placed the not back in its place, walking over to the oven and cracking open the door. The scent of butter washing over her, enticing her into eating the pastries that had been so carefully made for her this morning. Laura grinned as she bit into the soft breakfast food, the sweet taste exploding in her mouth and enticing out a satisfied moan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Only me! This one is actually on time! Shocker!


	4. Chapter 4

_Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, today we come to you with the news that the famous 'Karnstien Publishing House' has been lit up in flames. We have heard from a witness that the house has been alight for almost an hour now. We have a correspondent on the scene. We have also heard that the owner of the publishing house; Carmilla Karnstien herself, who inherited the company from her grandmother, has been seen inside the building. Ms Karnstien is reported to have been seen helping her employees from the flames in the building and over to safety by the ambulances. Sadly, we have to report that Ms Karnstien hasn't been seen in the last 20 minutes._

Danny's knee bounced up and down as the engine slowed to a stop. She shook her head, this couldn't be happening, "come on, Carm..." Danny whispered to herself. Her mind was whirring, she couldn't think straight. Normally, when she was sat in the engine on the way to a fire, Danny was nothing but calm, right now she couldn't think of anything other than the picture in her helmet. Despite everything she knew that Carmilla must be at home and not at the Publishing House, the thought of the building that Carmilla loved so much burning to the ground made her heart ache in an odd way that she hadn't felt in years. 

The Chief turned around to the crowd of firefighters in front of him. "Here's the deal, you all know that this is one of the most important buildings in this city. Some serious damage has been done already, what we need to do now is clear the floors and make sure that everyone is out before the fire brings the structure down. I want three on each floor, you know the deal, we stick together. If anyone gets into any trouble then shout us, come on team, let's do this." The team dispersed and Danny found herself being lead along by Kirsch. 

"Listen, Dan, I know that nobody else here knows about you and Carmilla but if you can't do this then you need to tell me. I need you 100% in there." Danny shook her head, unable to say anything yet, slowly letting the real situation set in.

* * *

 

Laura sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. This was never supposed to happen today. She turned to the muted television and sunk down onto the sofa. Any other day and any other job she would be so eager to be on the job; reporting had been her whole life ever since she'd stolen her dad's paper when she was 11 and read the most amazing article. Journalism had been her whole life until she'd met Danny and Carmilla. Now she sat on the couch watching the television report how one of her girlfriend's publishing house was in the middle of burning down and how the other one was about to run into said burning building and Laura could feel all the control she'd ever held onto slipping away. 

She bent over and put both of her hands together. She closed her eyes and for the first time since her mother died, Laura prayed. "Please, I know I haven't been good to you for a while, I've never asked you for anything and I know you work in mysterious ways and I understand that sometimes it's peoples' time to go but please, please don't let it be either of them. Not them, please, not today."

* * *

 

Danny and Kirsch stood next to each other as they both hopped from foot to foot. They were next to face the flames and Danny was trying her best to calm herself down. She'd asked around and nobody had seen 'Ms Karnstien' for almost an hour now. When Danny had found out that Carmilla was in fact inside the building and not tucked up safe and sound with Laura at home, it took everything in her to stop her from running straight into the building and look for her. It was against all her training and everything she'd ever been taught but that didn't mean that her heart wasn't screaming at her to save Carmilla. 

When Danny finally entered the burning building she was overcome with the pure heat surrounding her and she knew, vampire or not, Carmilla wouldn't be able to stay in here for too long without some serious damage being caused to her. "Stupid, stupid fucking vampire," she muttered as she and Kirsch cleared each of the rooms along a corridor that looked eerily familiar. When they got to the final door along the corridor, Danny realised why; she tried desperately to open the door that had her girlfriend's name printed across the front of it. She gestured for Kirsch to help her and after a few tries the two of them had gotten the door to open. They were greeted by a vast wall of smoke that was so dark it was almost black. They sunk down to their knees and felt their way through the darkness avoiding pieces of furniture and various piles of books. 

Long, gloved fingers wrapped themselves around a dark, jean clad leg and Danny's blood ran cold in the middle of the burning room. The rope that was tied around Danny's waist was pulled tight. "KIRSCH!" She shouted, "KIRSCH! I'VE FOUND HER!" Danny pulled the leg her hands were wrapped around towards her, groaning when she found that her girlfriend was bloody and unconscious. The need to get Carmilla out of the building was so strong that it almost knocked Danny's breath away. She pulled the limp body to her and into her arms. Slowly, slowly Danny stood up, being ever so careful with the precious cargo in her arms. 

When the two of them stumbled out of the building Danny sprinted over to the paramedics. She ripped her mask of and desperately patted Carmilla's face trying to wake her up. "Carm? Carm?! CARMILLA!?!" The dark haired vampire remained motionless on the stretcher.

* * *

 

Laura's head shot up when she heard her phone ringing in the kitchen. She ran as fast as she could from her position on the couch with her head in her hands to her phone on the counter top. "Hello?!" She cried into the receiver. 

"Laur..." Danny sounded so heart broken and so sad that Laura could tell what was coming. 

"No... No, no, no! Danny she's a vampire! She can't die. She can't die. Not again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuunnnnn.... Stay tuned for an update next week! (Sorry it's late!)


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks Danny stayed at home as much as possible. She just couldn't bring herself to go back to the fire house where everything had been so perfect before the fire that changed her life. The Chief had been understanding of course and gave her as much time off as she needed, much to Kirsch's displeasure. Laura chose the opposite coping method, spending all possible time that she could on a job. She travelled across state and across oceans just to escape the haunting flames that she saw whenever she closed her eyes. It was to no avail, every second she slept Danny's tears haunted her and she found herself aching to go home the further she ran. 

Strangely enough, much to Danny's disbelief she loved spending time at home. She'd come in from a run and drag her weary body up the stairs in the late morning only to collapse onto their shared bed and curl herself delicately around wonderfully soft black fur. Carmilla could heal much, much better in her cat form and frankly Danny loved it. She missed the days that she didn't wake up to a wet nose nudging her cheek and soft, blooded paws pawing at her to change their dressings. Danny didn't care though, just the fact that Carmilla was still with them, burns and blood and nightmares be damned, Carmilla had fought her way back from death - again - just for the two of them and what the three of them had together. 

Danny pushed herself through the door, pushing the stray hairs from her face and locking it behind her. "Carm, where are you hiding?" She shouted up the stairs. She was met by a soft growl and her face stretched up into a large grin. She shot up the stairs suddenly feeling much more energised. "Guess who just beat her PB?! Correct, Grumpy Cat, it was your own Xena!" Danny bustled through their bedroom door and froze at the sight before her. Laura lay strewn across the bed with a mostly asleep Carmilla spread on top of her. "Laura? When did you get home?" She asked. Danny was so glad to see Laura return to them that she had to hold herself back from leaping onto the bed on top of her two girlfriends. 

"I decided that I'd had enough. I missed you two too much and I think it was time to stop running. She looks better, I should never have left. I was just a bit freaked out, y'know?" Danny nodded, carefully climbing onto the bed and wrapping herself around the pair. "I missed you so much," Laura bent down to place a tender kiss on Danny's lips. "How has she been?" The panther in Laura's lap growled and gave them both a glare before leaping off the bed and padding over to the ensuite bathroom. Laura and Danny giggled and curled together waiting for their vampire to come back to them. Danny shot up when she heard a sharp scream and cry coming from the bathroom. Laura lay frozen on the bed, unsure of what to do in this strange situation. A few minutes later Danny came out of the bathroom carrying a clothed, human Carmilla in her arms. "I-is she okay?" Laura asked, shifting over on the bed so that Danny could lay Carmilla down in the middle. 

" _She_ is fine," grumbled Carmilla. " _She_ just needs to be 'a bit more careful' according to our giantess over here." Carmilla leant over to Laura, letting out a sharp hiss, and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. "Welcome home, Cupcake". Laura kissed back with further until the two broke apart with a huff from Danny sitting on the side of the bed. She'd popped into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit that had been with the three since Laura's dad gave it to her in college. They both shared a look before Laura leaned over and smacked a kiss on both of Danny's cheeks before kissing her softly on her lips. "If I could, I would, Amazon." 

Danny smiled down at Carmilla before leaning down and kissing her gently. "Right, now, hush you. You know the drill, shirt off." She looked up to see both Laura and Carmilla staring at her with raised eyebrows, Laura's out of shock where Carmilla's were much more suggestive. She slapped the publisher's ankle gently as a reprimand before helping her off with her shirt. "So, Laur, tell us all about what you've been up to." Laura knew what Danny was doing, she was trying to distract both her and Carmilla from the ragged cuts and painful burns that were littered across her abdomen. As the redhead cleaned them and Carmilla gripped her hand in an almost death grip, Laura found it hard to say anything at all, watching the pain ricochet across one of her beloved's face was so hard and a huge sense of guilt settled in her stomach - she never should have left at all. 

"Um-well," she took a brief moment to collect herself and ran a soothing thumb across the back of Carmilla's hand. "Well I covered this really nice story about a homeless man and his dog- Look, I'm just going to be honest here because you've said so many times that I'm so transparent and you know when I'm bull shitting- I'm sorry, when I'm lying to you, I spent like 90% of my time just thinking about you and missing you and wishing that I never left-" Laura broke off to wipe her fingers under her eyes. She'd been so foolish, she never should've left the town let alone the town. A cold hand ran over her cheek and she curled herself into Carmilla's side. "I'm so sorry- I'm so so sorry."

"Shhhh, Cupcake, Laura..." Carmilla ran her hands through Laura's long, blonde hair. Danny rubbed her hand up and down her leg before fondly curling into Carmilla's other side. "This is my fault, I should never have left this bed... God, after everything we went through at Silas- I should have known..." The vampire brought her hand up from behind Danny's back and rubbed a small hand over her tear stricken face. "I should have known..." She whispered. 

"For Artemus' sake would you both just shut up!" Danny cried, shocking both of her two bedmates. "Laura, yes, you shouldn't have left but you came back and that is all that matters... to either of us! And Carm, god you idiot! You wonderful, beautiful, useless idiot! Do you have any idea how many people's lives you saved... Your employees! If you need to know just go and look at the bloody kitchen! Also, side note, completely not related to my rant, Laura I wouldn't go into the kitchen, you know how your allergies are... Anyway! Not the point! Carmilla, I know you hate this 'stupid heroic vampire crap' but you need to start to recognise how wonderful you are. How wonderful we both think you are. Now Grumpy Cat, Lauronica Mars... Are we going to binge-watch  _Buffy_ or not? Because if not, I have a date with some serious men - Mr Ben and Mr Jerry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me!


	6. Chapter 6

Carmilla dreamt about the first night that she'd met Danny's wolf often. Sometimes it's pleasant, they run together and they find ways to roll around and have fun in the middle of the woods like they usually do on their hunts these days. More often than not she dreams it the way it actually happened. The progression of their relationship had been slow, as you'd expect with 'teenagers' going through their first three-way relationship but in a way that had felt almost natural the three of them managed to just slip into it as if they had been together like this their whole lives. The 'twin flame' as it were but, plus one. Ever since Silas Laura had, had issues with their animals, it was hard for Carmilla to understand why they'd developed but she got that they were brought on through watching her save Laura and in turn Danny over and over again through harming others. It had become harder and harder for Carmilla towards the end, the hurting of other people. Her relationship with Danny and Laura had meant that something inside of her had softened despite centuries of murder. 

Despite the slow growth of their relationship, there was no denial that by the first time that the vampire met Danny's wolf, she felt such deep love for the girl (even if she was yet to claim it) that when she watched the painful transformation it only echoed within her chest. Dreams, or nightmares such as these always brought Carmilla back to thinking about what their relationship had been like at the start and how it had progressed from there...

* * *

 

_Silas - Year Two_

So much had changed since that fight in the basement that Laura and Carmilla often found themselves spending time together that was so close to 'normal' that it freaked the both of them out a little bit. Often they'd have movie nights with the ginger twins and always Danny. Carmilla and Danny had bonded tenfold over their combined effort to save Laura and their shared supernatural traits. Laura loved it, she'd found home amongst this funny collection of college students. Perry and LaFontaine brought with them freshly baked goods and Perry would rattle around the room tidying up after the four other girls before they all sat down on the two beds that they'd pushed together to project the movie up onto the bare wall that used to house Carmilla's bed. Danny would stumble in earlier than any of the other guests, almost at home in room 307 due to the shear amount of time that she'd spent in there between the fight and their second year as a team. Bit by bit between the forging of their friendship and the position they'd found themselves in now they (Carmilla and Danny) managed to forge firm and fond foundations to a wonderful camaraderie. When the tall redhead bustled through the door to the small room she'd have two bags in her arms, one that got grabbed by Laura after a fond kiss was pressed to her cheek and one that was lifted out of her arms by the other brunette followed by a thin arm wrapping around her wrist and dragging her into the room. 

Next she'd be softly pushed down onto the bed and handed a plate. Laura unpacked the bag of groceries into their correct places; her cookies and cocoa, Carmilla's blood, Soya Milk, various vegetables and a Tupperware of Danny's homemade soup that would stay in there for Danny to take to her lecture the next morning after she'd stayed over. A collection of Danny's things had been moved into room 307, sets of pyjamas, clothes, food, and various brands of tea and health drinks. Carmilla would be danced around by Laura as she unpacked the Chinese that Danny had brought with her. Danny would give her plate to the smaller twitchy woman and have it returned piled full a few minutes later. Laura would snuggle into her right side with her own plate, quickly followed by Carmilla later, into her left side. She'd be passed a pair of chopsticks with a soft smile from Carmilla because in her hurry Laura had forgotten... Again! Perry and LaFontaine would burst in about ten minutes after they'd settled in and shared their food. LaF would bounce onto the bed with their own bowl of food, most likely prepared by Perry before and they would entertain lively conversation with Laura for almost ten minutes whilst Danny and Carmilla shared small tidbits from their day and light jokes along with many warm hugs (much to Carmilla's delight). 

Once Perry had finished cleaning the room up and scolding them for leaving such a mess, the movie would be started. In the darkness of the room Danny would find herself being used as a pillow by both of the girls either side of her. Sometimes though they would all make a chain. Laura on Danny and Danny leaning on Carmilla. Always, they would end up in a large pile of limbs until the end of the movie. Within this time there was a wealth of feelings that just went un-mentioned. They would share words and actions of affection and if they were out together two of them would often be mistaken for a couple yet the three of them put no label on whatever their relationship was. None of them felt any pressure to maintain any form of rules that applied to normal relationships. All they knew is that there  _were_ feelings shared between all three of them, they just feared that words and talking about the subject would only complicate things and complications often made things messy or difficult. 

It wasn't as if they didn't want to, the three of them had already shared many kisses and they were so affectionate with each other that they wouldn't ever want to go back to the way that it was before. Danny had gotten so close with Carmilla that Laura's heart sung every time that they touched. That's another thing about their relationship that was so great, there was no residual jealousy when two were more affectionate at some point that the other two. Nobody ever wanted something that wasn't there. They only felt affection when they saw the other's sharing affection. 

When the lights got turned on at the end of the movie and Carmilla was curled up asleep under Danny's arm, Perry and LaF would sneak out and Laura would sneak around the room, attempting to tidy things up. She would slip into her pyjamas and Danny would try and wake up Carmilla, as gently as possible, which would normally end up in a swipe to the cheek and a soft elbow to the ribs. She'd softly nudge her off the bed and cajole her into some nightclothes before slipping into the bathroom to do her own nightly routine. 

They would slip into bed together and snuggle up. These nights were so frequent that it felt so strange when they didn't all fall asleep together. Danny - now president of the Summer Society, had a busy schedule that she often found herself absolutely exhausted and curled into her bed in her own dorm, even if she never slept as well as when she was with her best friends. It was on a night such as this that Danny fled their dorm early in the morning with a fond kiss pressed to each sleepy forehead and left the room with a note on the pillow. She had an early lecture and had therefore had to leave her own version of heaven and walked out into the cold with a backpack on her back and fought her way through a busy entryway to the middle of the hall and spent three hours of mindless talk over a book that she'd completely hated. After her lecture she'd gone for a much needed run, knowing that back in room 307, Carmilla would be curled up in a ball on her own, most likely still asleep, and Laura would either be in a lecture or sat in front of her computer tapping away. 

She headed back to the Summer Society house and gone straight to the work out room for the group training that the sisters had had booked for weeks. Two hours of grappling, fighting, and working out did wonders to the tightness in Danny's shoulders that had been caused by her lecture this morning and many other things. As her sisters filed out of the gym and she piled one mat on top of the other she thought more and more about what their relationship was. She jumped when the mat that she was dragging along the floor lifted into the air and the weight that had been behind her became almost non-existance. She grinned, the redhead knew exactly who was now helping her. "Managed to drag yourself out of bed,  did you?" She smirked at the grumble that was the only response. As they plunked the final mat onto the pile she turned and was knocked back onto the mats that she'd just cleared up. 

"You should know by now what these tank tops do to me, Xena." Carmilla growled. A swift kiss was pressed to Danny's lips and she reciprocated in turn, giggling when Carmilla snuggled into her. 

"You don't want to do that, I'm all sweaty!" The werewolf cried out. After a few seconds of silence and an inaudible mumble from the vampire, Danny decided to ask the thing that had been on her mind for a while, "Carm...." She continued after a small hum from the woman in her arms. "What are we? Like, you me and Laura, what are we?" Carmilla's head shot up, almost bashing the crown of her head on Danny's chin. 

"Do you want us to stop?" The look on Carmilla's face caused something in Danny's heart to falter and stutter. Carmilla scrambled off her and moved backwards into the room as if she'd been burned. Danny shook her head trying to slow the whole conversation down, but it was too late. Carmilla was already backing towards the door. Danny got up in a last attempt to try and stop her. Trust the redhead to ruin a friendship that had taken so much work to grow. Carmilla was gone in a black puff of smoke before she was up on her feet at all. 

"Dammnit!" She shouted, throwing her fist against a wall.

* * *

 

When Danny got to room 307 almost an hour later she found Laura alone, a glum expression on her face. "You know?" Danny asked, she responded with a nod. "I swear to you, I didn't mean it like that, I never meant to hurt her!"

Laura got up and walked towards her, wrapping her arms around her, resting her head on Danny's chest. "I know you didn't, honestly Dan, I've been thinking about it for a while too. You know how she is though. She struggles with this kind of thing. We're just going to have to wait it out, I want us, she wants us and you want us... I hope" Danny nodded, "I know she does, we talk about it when it's just the two of us together and you're off doing your own thing. She really, really cares about you, she's just a bit sensitive about that kind of thing at this time of year." Danny's head sunk down onto the top of Laura's head.

"I wish I knew that kind of thing about her, you know so much. Do you think she knows that I really care about her too? I know we bicker a lot and we fight sometimes but I want her to know that I care about her just as much as I care about you." Danny felt Laura nodding against her chest and ran a hand through her hair. "Will she come back, Laur?" 

Laura leant back and looked at her, "Of course she will, you silly bean. I think we should try and sleep and she will make her own way back when she's ready." The smaller girl leant up and kissed the older woman quickly, dragging her towards the two pushed together beds. 

* * *

 

When Carmilla appeared in the room in the early morning to find Danny pacing backwards and forwards in front of her she was moderately surprised. Laura was bundled up on the beds, staring at Danny waring the carpet away in front of her. Both of them looked as though they hadn't slept a wink the whole night. It was the smaller girl that noticed her first; "Carm!" She shouted, throwing of the covers surrounding her and bounding over to the vampire. "We were so worried!" Carmilla shook her head, unsure of what was actually going on. A few hours ago, Danny had been rejecting her and she'd been running from the gym, now the two girls were stood in front of her and looking as though she'd been gone for a week. 

"I-I..." She tried to think of something to say, anything. But nothing came through the fog in her mind at all. She stared at Danny for a moment, feeling Laura's arms snake around her waist. 

"Carm, you're freezing, where have you been?" Carmilla only shook her head again, her eyes meeting Laura's. A short and sweet kiss was pressed to her lips, "come and get out of these clothes and wrap yourself up, we'll get you a glass and you can tell us what happened." Laura pushed Carmilla, who was still relatively shell shocked, into the bathroom and turned around to Danny who still hadn't moved.

"We'll be fine," she whispered to Danny, "it was all just a big misunderstanding." Danny nodded and sank onto the bed that Laura had just vacated as the smaller woman flitted around the room getting a glass of blood ready for Carmilla. 

When Carmilla came out of the bathroom, dressed in one of the redhead's summer society baseball shirts that fell to her thigh and towelling her hair dry. She opened her mouth to speak "I'm so so sorry," Danny whispered. "I never once meant it like that. And I never, ever meant to hurt you." Carmilla nodded on the opposite side of the room. Danny raised to her feet, wanting nothing more than to run to the girl that she'd been so worried about and wrap her in her arms until she truly believed that Danny would never, ever reject her. Carmilla nodded again, as if reading her mind and the two met in the middle of the dorm in a tight embrace. "I was so worried," Danny whispered into her hair, "I was so worried that you weren't going to come back, to me. I know that things have been tricky with us but, god-" Danny broke herself off to slap Carmilla on the arm lightly, "don't you ever do that to me again, you useless vampire." Said vampire threw her head back in a laugh and Laura chose that moment to bound over to them and leaped onto the bed behind them to pull them back onto in and into a big pile made up of the three of them. 

"So does this mean we're official... It's not as if we haven't been dancing around it for long enough!" The other two laughed at her, Laura looked like an excited puppy that had just been told she was getting the bone that she'd been waiting for.

"If this one will have me, then I would like nothing more..." Danny left her statement open for Carmilla to fill in the blanks, uneasy as to where the vampire stood after their little spat. Maybe Laura had been right, maybe she'd just needed some time to cool down and realise that that was not what Danny had meant at all. A small part of Danny resented that Laura knew Carmilla so well and she didn't but in reality the two of them only had themselves to blame, after spending so long fighting over Laura they had missed out on so much time that could have been spent differently. Much, much differently.

The werewolf was snapped out of her thoughts by a pair of cool, soft lips moving against her own and she could only kiss back with fervour. Behind them Laura squealed and clapped her hands before squeezing her way in-between the two, almost pushing Carmilla off of Danny's lap in the process. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry! It was Christmas, I needed a break! ;) 
> 
> This chapter isn't my best, I think it might be a bit too bitty but, let me know!
> 
> Thanks guys, gals and any other preferred pet name :) I'm taking this story in a bit of a different direction for the moment, please comment and let me know if you like it! If anyone has any suggestions feel free to let them be known.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've kinda gone on the idea that Silas is in Canada because the whole location thing just confuses me... This is another time jump one, sorry guys! Also I'm sorry for not updating sooner, things got really bad for me at home. I'd love to talk to you all more and maybe get some feedback, I'm on tumblr under the same name so hit me up! :) 
> 
> As always thanks for staying with me! Also a HUGE thank you to the person who made the Danny, fireman edit! Seriously it's amazing!!

You never realised that the first time the three of you had a fight would be like this. Danny was at a lit conference for almost a week and as per usual the three of you were all suffering from separation anxiety. You’d started the call when you were alone in your room. Your relationship was still new and you would happily admit that you were nervous that these feelings weren’t natural at the four month mark.

What made you even more nervous was the thought that Danny and Carmilla’s relationship had changed so much. They never fought any more, only squabbles and all of you know that that’s only because they were both so stubborn and defensive about feeling vulnerable.

When Carmilla had woken up that morning, you’d known she wasn’t feeling very happy. It was the anniversary of Elle’s death and you’d never been more cautious around her before, even when she’d been the ‘broody-dangerous-nightmare-roommate'. When you'd tried to talk to Danny about it because you were so unsure at what to do Carmilla had barged through the door and thrown her bag onto your beds. You cringed when you heard her phone hit the wall a second later, knowing that it would cause a dent. 

"Jeez, who peed in your cereal, Dracula?!" Danny laughed from behind the screen. You closed your eyes, this was so not how you hoped today to go. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Carmilla's head snap up. A comment that would usually start a light bickering match, causing a full blown fight was the last thing you needed today.

"Dan, don't, not today..." You watched as Danny's face fell from a happy smile into a face etched with concern. She looked between you and Carmilla and you could see that both of you wished that she was here with you and not hundreds of miles away. 

"I can defend myself, Cupcake," Carmilla growled in her harsh sarcastic drawl that you thought you'd moved past. "Godzilla, I do not need this from you today so you can get off of your bloody high horse and stop thinking that you're so fucking perfect, you may be president of the fucking Phyco Society and you may have the girl you wanted and you may have every thing you could ever ask for at the drop of a hat but you have no idea, Lawrence, you have no clue. You and Hollis are children! You are children you don't know loss, you don't know anything!!" With that Carmilla span around on her heel and sped out of the room before either of her girlfriends could stop her.

For a few minutes both of them sat there in shock. Danny broke the silence with a ragged breath, running her hands through her hair before starting to speak, "Laur, I didn't know, why didn't you say something?! Oh Gods, what have I done! I should have just kept my mouth shut!" Laura buried her head in her hands and sighed again. In the background she could hear Danny rambling on and on about what she should do and another sigh escaped her lips as Danny came to the complete realisation of the gravity of this situation. She closed her eyes hoping that when she opened them the three of them would be just as they were a few weeks ago and there would be no slamming of doors, no panicked rambling and no plans that would envolved one of them getting harmed or killed. 

"Danny." You said firmly, her head snapped up to look at you, she'd never heard you like this before. "You need to just stop for a minute, I need you just to stop for a minute," her mouth hung open and she had a scared look in her eye. "Carmilla has just stormed out of the room, into a freaking snow storm, on the death anniversary of the only person she has every cared for apart from the two of us and she's been making dark jokes all day. You freaking out is literally the last possible thing I could need right now!"

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds before Danny's face hardened and she looked like the warrior that had walked out your room and told you never to call her again. You felt a sinking in your chest and you wished that somewhere along the line with all of his lectures and his lessons that your dad had taught you the ability to keep your mouth shut. You went to go and speak again but this hardened woman in front of you spoke before you could; "I get it Laura, don't worry, annoying little Danny who only ever puts her foot in her mouth won't bother you again. I'll let you get back to your girlfriend." She hung up and your computer screen shook as you slammed your head down onto your desk. 

"Our girlfriend, Danny" you whispered into the silence that enveloped your room. You stared out of the window, should you follow her? You decided against it, Carmilla's voice rang out in your head 'vampiric constitution trumps human hypothermia, Cupcake'. You decided to lay down on your bed and try and hope that when you woke up you wouldn't feel quite so low. 

* * *

 

The worry kicked in when it had been two days and you still hadn't seen any sign of Carmilla or Danny. The glass of blood that you'd left on your bedside table had gone untouched for just over 48 hours now and your phone lay motionless next to it. You'd given in over twelve hours ago and tried to call Danny, you couldn't live like this. She hadn't answered and you'd started to get angry, these girls couldn't do this to you! You went walking through the empty campus, all the students had gone home for winter break and you'd looked for Carmilla everywhere. Still nothing.

Relief finally flooded through your system when you woke up three days after the fight to a tapping on your door. You don't know when it became your room and your door but you imagined Carmilla would have come up with some fancy word to describe how she felt. 

You sprang out of bed, with a quick look down at your bat pyjamas (a present from Danny to take the mickey out of Carmilla (you had matching ones)). You yanked open the door and almost fell to your knees at the sight before you. Your wonderful, talk warrior was stood in front of you, cradling Carmilla in her arms. The image that had been before your eyes only a few months ago made the breath in your throat catch and come out as gasps. Danny pushes past your frozen form in the entryway, you see her arm muscles straining and building as she holds Carmilla to her chest. This snaps you into movement and you rushed towards your two girlfriends, laying on the bed. Danny was trying to coax Carmilla's mouth open and it was then that you realised she had cut a long jagged line down her wrist and there was now blood steadily pouring out of it and onto Carmilla's lips.

"Come on you stupid fucking useless vampire. You don't get to do this to us again!" Danny cried, forcing her blooded arm into the barely open jaws of your girlfriend. For a few moments everything was still and nobody moved, it was only you breathing for a while there before Carmilla snapped up at inhuman speed and latched into Danny's arm. You heard her let out a pained cry and you moved so that you could be positioned next to her and wrapped an arm around her back. You were relieved when she sank back into you and you almost fell asleep again just from the feeling of her in your arms after so long apart. 

When Carmilla eased off and Danny let out a mangled whimper, she lifted herself and placed a soft kiss on Danny's lips. "Thank you, my love. You really need to stop saving me or you're going to develop some sort of Hero Complex." She grumbled. You let out a high pitched squeal at the sound of her voice and threw your body at her making all three of you fall backwards onto the bed. Suddenly you were standing and slapping her lightly on the arm. 

"Don't you ever do that to me again, useless Vampire!"

* * *

 

Your first kiss happened on a Thursday, your first date was on a Monday, your first fight was on a Wednesday. You wished that every day of the week were that special.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER UPDATE!!!  
> I finally finished my plan and my plan for the sequel so I'm really excited. I know I'm not the best of writers out there, there are some insane writers in this fandom but I try my best.  
> Thanks for sticking with me.

A few weeks later, Carmilla learnt that maybe Danny had had a hero complex all along and maybe that she hadn’t noticed. She realised this when she was curled up into Danny’s side with Laura curled around her back and they were talking about their futures. They all knew what Laura wanted to do, it was no secret that their Louis Lane Junior wanted to become a journalist but Carmilla had always assumed that Danny was going to do something in Literature as she was so passionate about it. It is an understatement to say that she was shocked when she learnt that Danny was planning to become a fire fighter.

“I just don’t get why, Xena” Carmilla mumbled against her chest. “I always just assumed that you’d do something in Literature or something at least related.” Danny’s room was enveloped in silence for a few minutes before Danny broke it.

“My Dad was a fire fighter, and his dad before him and before him.” She started quietly, “I come from a long line of Firefighters and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to be, y’know, like my dad.” The silence returned to the room and Carmilla was unsure whether she should say anything. Danny rested her chin on the top of Carmilla’s head. “He died, when I was eight, in a fire which is fairly ironic,” Danny let out a harsh laugh that was devoid of all happiness. “All of them died actually, my whole family.”

Carmilla snaked her arm from her side to wrap around Danny and she pulled her entire body on top of the longer one of her girlfriend’s. Laura followed suit until she was pressed tightly into both Danny and Carmilla. Vibrations rocked the three of them as Danny weeped into Carmilla.

Laura never realised how vulnerable all three of them were and how much they had all lost. Having lost her mother at a birth Laura knew the experience of never having someone that meant so much to you. However, she couldn’t even fathom the thought of loosing her whole family. Her dad meant everything to her and even beginning to entertain the thought of loosing him caused water to swim to her eyes and a sick feeling to grow in her stomach. Laura burrowed even closer to her girlfriends in an attempt to wipe away the horrible feeling that had now settled in her gut.

* * *

A few hours later, Carmilla eased herself off of Danny and hopped off of the bed. There was a dark thought sitting in the back of her mind that she just couldn’t let go of. As she pulled on some smart clothes she gazed fondly at the girls on the bed. With one last look behind her she left the room.

As she walked up the steps to the building that she’d fallen head over heals in love with so man years ago she let the familiar sense of achievement wash over her. Although her other two bed mates had their own aspirations, Carmilla, despite being a centuries old vampire, had had dreams of what she wanted to do with her life since she was eleven.

As she opened the door to her office the familiar sight of bookshelves overstuffed with books greeted her. She snuggled up in the armchair that was positioned beside the large window looking out onto the city and picked up on of the books that was laying around her.

When the sun cracked over the crowds and announced the start of a new day Carmilla was in the same position that she had been hours ago. Her phone, laying on the floor, vibrated and buzzed to life as the seventh call of the morning. She grumbled and shifted in the chair, her eyes remained closed and she didn’t wake from her rest. Within the hour she was disrupted by two fools bursting through the door and into her once peaceful office. Still, Carmilla remained asleep and curled into herself more.

Danny and Laura stifled their giggles at the incredibly cat-like Carmilla and took a few moments to look around the office. The impressive room had a wonderfully high ceiling and large clear windows, giving the whole area a strangely dated feel. There were wall-to-ceiling bookshelves all along three of the four walls and each of them were stuffed with books. In the middle of the room was an antique chestnut dest with an impressive chair behind it that demanded people’s attention. Upon the desk was a wonderful typewriter that Laura ran her fingers along in awe, it was obviously an original and still kept in wonderful condition. The desk was littered with stacks of papers and manuscripts with various scribbles and notes dotted all over them in Carmilla’s careful script. However, that wasn’t the most important part of the room. The only thing that proved that the owner of this room was indeed the girl that the two of them really knew was the massive leather armchair that their girlfriend was curled up in, facing the window.

Danny padded over to the chair quietly and grinned at the opportunity that now lay before her. Her mind ran riot with tricks that she could play on the sleeping vampire. All these thoughts were stopped when Laura came up behind her and placed a tiny hand in the small of her back. “Don’t”, she whispered. The brunette bent down and brushed her fingers over Carmilla’s forehead, moving the hair out of her eyes before placing a kiss on the space she’d just cleared.

Carmilla’s eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks and her eyes cracked open. She mumbled incoherently under her breath and tried to re-situate before she realised exactly where she was and who had woken her up. She sat bolt upright, nearly bashing Laura in the head, and looked at them with wild eyes. “Wh-? H-how?”, Carmilla stuttered and stumbled.

Her girlfriends grinned, she looked so innocent and surprised. Danny pushed her forwards slightly so that she could slip into the armchair that Carmilla had just vacated and pulled the vampire back onto her. “I think the real question is, why didn’t you tell us, Fangs? This place is seriously amazing! Did you think you wouldn’t approve?” The redhead asked. As a response Carmilla only shrugged and snuggled deeper into Danny’s neck.

Laura realised that maybe it was better to save this for another day. Carmilla’s past was so much complicated than she could have every imagined. She learnt from her past mistakes that taking people’s tragic back stories the wrong way only ever lead to mistakes. Instead, she decided that it would be much better to try and attempt a bundle at this present moment in time. She jumped off the ground and on top of Carmilla, consequently flattening Danny in the process who let out a bark of a laugh, sending them all to the hardwood floor in a heap of limbs and laughter.


	9. Chapter 9

Danny's in the middle of a lecture when her phone starts buzzing beside her. Her head shoots up as her ears turn bright pink. She splutters out a cough and excuses herself from all the students staring at her with judgemental looks. 

When she gets into the safety of the corridor she looks at her phone. Holding it in her hand Danny's knees start to give out beneath her. Her heart beats against her chest without mercy and she doesn't think she's felt this way since the battle.

The message and 36 missed calls from Laura tell the message clear enough.

_Carmilla's gone to the basement, I couldn't stop her. Please, help!_

The redhead closes her eyes for the briefest of seconds before pulling herself up off the ground and sprinting as fast as she could towards the Summer Society house. 

When she breaks into her room, lungs burning and her breath coming out in short pants, she looks up and finds Laura sat on the bed looking absolutely heartbroken. 

"What happened?!" Danny gasps out as soon as she can. She has her hands on her knees and she's convinced that her lungs are genuinely on fire now. 

"I-I," Laura closes her eyes, unable to get what she needs to say out of her mouth, "I fucked up, Danny. God! How could I be so stupid!" The small girl drops her head into her hands and her shoulders shake and tremble.

Danny makes her way over to her and wraps long, lithe arms around her girlfriend. After a few minutes Laura lifts up her head and looks into Danny's startling blue eyes. "What happened, Laur?"

"I um, I came back and she was on the phone, I have no idea who to and she was really angry. Danny I've never seen her so angry. I, man, me and my stupid foot in mouth syndrome. I may or may not have asked quite forcefully who she was talking to and we had a fight and she walked out mumbling something about the basement. I'm so scared she's going to do something stupid and I won't be able to stop her or you won't be able to stop her and she won't know how much I love her."

Danny let the words sink in slowly as she rubbed her hand up and down Laura's back. "I think you just need to calm down a little, Laura. I'm not saying that you being upset isn't justified I just think it's important to remember that we don't know all the facts okay?" Laura nodded against her chest. 

"What if  _she_ finds her, Danny?" Laura whispers into the silence a few minutes later. 

Danny lets out a sigh, that had been her first thought when she'd heard about where Carmilla had gone. "I don't know, Laur. All I know is that I'm sure as hell not letting her do anything to our girlfriend ever again. We'll hit that bridge when we come to it."

* * *

 

Danny jumped awake as the warm morning sun broke through the clouds and shone a bright beam directly onto her face. She realised that she was still fully clothed and holding a very small and very tired Laura. They'd fallen asleep waiting for Carmilla to call them. 

Danny untangles herself from Laura and climbs over to where her phone is sitting on its charger. Next to it is a picture strip from their first date and Danny's heart clenches.

She  _misses_ Carmilla.

It's ridiculous, she knows it is. The girl has only been gone for a few hours.  _11 hours and 49 minutes_. Not that she's counting.

Laura grumbles behind her and Danny moves back over to the bed to run a hand through dirty blonde hair. "Dan? Carm?" The sleep-filled voice murmurs out. 

"She's not back yet, Sweets." Danny whispers, "I think we may need to go and look for her today".

Laura nods against the yellow pillow that now smells so strongly of Carmilla, "I want her back, Dan".

"I know, baby. So do I." Danny says sadly. 

* * *

 

"Please, Mother," Carmilla shouts, "I'll do anything, anything you ask of me but please, please don't send them here!"

The image in front of her melts away and her mother comes out from behind her. The woman looks older, much older, the mere fact that she managed to survive when everyone thought she was dead left Carmilla breathless the first time she realised. 

She should have known better, she knows that now. She always should have known better. 

Now she does know better she would do  _anything_ to save those girls. 

Her mother reaches out a long, thin finger and scrapes her nail down Carmilla's cheek, drawing a long line of blood out from where she touched. "Darling, don't be so foolish. You went against me and now you must pay the price."

A small whimper echoes from within the back of Carmilla's throat as her mother's hand moves down until it's grasping her neck and throwing her head back into the rock that she's been tied down to for the past 14 hours. 

"Now, now, Sweetheart. Mother taught you better than to stoop to that level. These children have made you soft." Her mother sighs, showing her disappointment. "What I have in store for you should harden you up again." 

A harsh laugh echoes through the dusty old basement as two tall men come out from behind the staircase carrying a silver lined coffin.

Carmilla's heart sinks. 

_No._

"Please, Mother. Please! You don't have to do this! Please, I'll do anything, please!" 

* * *

 

The days move forwards and every time Danny comes back from searching for Carmilla she finds Laura curled up in the old armchair that Danny and Carmilla had found at an old car boot sale. 

Danny would make a Bella Swan reference if she didn't want Carmilla home so bad.

Days shift into months and Danny's starting to wonder whether Carmilla's ever coming back when one day Laura's phone buzzes to life with a text from LaFontaine. 

**_There's something you should see._  **

Danny is beyond worried about both of her girlfriends and the dark bags under her eyes are testament over the lack of sleep she's gotten in the past few months. 

LaF leads them deep into the woods and over to a large boulder. Danny leans forward to try and read the inscription against the rock.

_Those who go against my word will be punished._

She blinks, and blinks again.  _This can't be_. Her wolf senses kick in and before she even realises it LaF, Perry and Laura are running backwards as she transitions and starts pushing away at the rock, determined to get it shifted. 

If the pounding she can sense coming from the earth is anything to go by then she needs to get to whatever is under that rock and soon.

After a few minutes with no success she hears a clambering coming from behind her and suddenly there are tens of Frat boys helping her shift the rock further back. 

As soon as it's moved she's pawing at the ground. 

She feels a hand on her shoulder and she's pulled back and into Laura's arms before LaF's throwing some sort of explosive that they probably made in the lab back at Silas and they can see the lid of a coffin, wrapped tightly with chains.

Danny's heart sinks into her boots.

This is worse that she could ever have imagined. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all your support! See you next week!


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